For Your Protection
by Gavin Silverblade
Summary: Musicalverse, AU from Defying Gravity onwards. Right before Elphaba flees from the Wizard's palace, she makes a decision: a decision that will change her life forever. Rated for later chapters.
1. Saving You

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Wicked**_**, but I do own this story. All other rights go to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.**

"Well? Are you coming?" After a few moments of thinking about her answer to this question, Glinda Upland adopted a sad expression.

"Elphaba, as much as I'd love to come with you, I can't. Please, at least try to understand," she replied. The green woman standing in front of her stood there for a moment in complete silence before her face darkened.

"I see," she stated. "Well, you've made your decision, and I respect that, but…" Elphaba looked up at Glinda with a slightly hurt expression showing in her eyes before letting out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Glinda, I really am, but just understand, it's better this way." Glinda stood there, confused.

"Elphie, what are you talking about?" she asked. Elphaba stood there for a moment, her head hanging low. Suddenly, there was a loud pounding at the door.

"Come on out, Witch! There's nowhere to run!" a man shouted from the other side of the door. The recently-proclaimed Wicked Witch cursed under her breath before reaching down to the floor and grabbing her newly-acquired spell book.

"Elphie, what are you doing?" Glinda asked as her friend flipped through the book. The witch glanced up at her ever-so-fabulous roommate.

"Saving you," she stated simply before going back to frantically flipping through the pages of the old book. Another pounding came from the door.

"You can't hide from us, Witch! Get the battering ram!" the same man as before shouted. Elphaba was panicking now, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she found what she was looking for.

"Look, Glinda, I'm really sorry for what I'm about to do, but it has to be done," she apologized, looking up at her friend, who was now thoroughly lost. Not giving her a chance to respond, the young witch looked back down to the book and started chanting. "_Ahtus creto yemen kar, ahtus creto yemen kar…_" Suddenly, Glinda felt a strange sensation pass through her body as Elphaba continued to chant. The world seemed to start spinning, and she instinctively put a hand up to her forehead. The vertigo quickly worsened, and she came to the realization that her friend's spell was the cause of what she was currently experiencing. Her vision began to darken.

"El…phie…" she said weakly, and that was all she was able to say before she collapsed to the floor.

The witch looked at her friend one last time with tearful eyes before getting on her broomstick and flying away. The last thing she heard from the room was the sound of a wooden door collapsing and the collective cry of the Gale Force soldiers as they saw her escape.

* * *

It had almost been a whole day since Glinda and Elphaba's departure to the Emerald City, and Fiyero Tiggular was already missing them greatly. He spent the whole day worrying about whether or not they were ok, which, as anyone who knew him would tell you, was a very non-Fiyero thing to do. He was supposed to be the brainless prince who hardly gave a thought to anything but himself, but ever since a few weeks ago, he hadn't been acting like his normal self. The students of Shiz University noticed this, but only a few ever chose to ask him, and when they did, they would just get a vague answer as a response. As he lay on his bed, Fiyero thought about his two friends once more before drifting off.

Elphaba Thropp, however, was not put to rest so easily. Although it was rather late at night and she was tired, she had a goal in mind, and she was determined to succeed. Escaping from the Emerald City wasn't hard, but it wasn't exactly easy. She came much closer to an arrow on several occasions than she would ever prefer to be, but other than that, it was smooth sailing. Even so, she was still wary while flying since news travels fast around the Emerald City and its surrounding areas. When Shiz University came into view, however, she allowed herself to lower her guard a little, feeling that she was far enough away for anyone to know about it yet. It wasn't too long after that she was hovering next to a (luckily) open window in the boys' dormitories.

Fiyero was awoken by the feeling that someone was watching him, but he didn't open his eyes, thinking that it would go away on its own. When it didn't, however, his eyes slowly opened. What he saw made him jolt up and almost cry out in shock. There, in the window, was the silhouette of a figure floating in the air. Seeing his sudden movement, the figure startled, revealing a tiny amount of green skin. When he saw this, his eyes widened.

"Elphaba?" he asked, unsure of whether or not this was a dream. The figure nodded, sticking her head through the window. She smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. This was a sad smile, which was odd even for her.

"Hi, Fiyero," she greeted. Noticing the expression on her face, he frowned in concern.

"Is something wrong? You know, other than the fact that you're floating next to my window, that is," he joked. Immediately, her expression became solemn. She looked away from him before he could see the tears forming in her eyes. She muttered something unintelligible. "What was that?" Fiyero asked. "I didn't quite catch what you said there." She turned around, her eyes somewhat damp.

"I'm sorry, Fiyero," she said softly.

"For what?" he asked, confused. The witch, saying nothing more, got out her spell book once again and began chanting. "Elphaba? What are you doing?" he asked, beginning to feel dizzy; it wasn't long after that Fiyero collapsed onto the bed. Coming into his room for a moment, tears brimming in her eyes, Elphaba kneeled down next to him.

"I never got to tell you this, Fiyero," she whispered to him, "but I believe I was a little in love with you." With that, she got back on her broomstick and flew off.

* * *

**A/N: Any thoughts so far? Is it good? Bad? Horrendible? Be sure to let me know by typing in that magic box below and reviewing! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Changes

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Wicked**_**, but I do own this story. All other rights go to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.**

**A/N: Quick updates FTW! Thank you to the people that reviewed! Nia, I promise you that she didn't kill them, and Pancake, your review made me laugh. Thank you all for the compliments! Now, on with the story...**

When Galinda woke up, the first thing she saw was a blinding light coming from the large window in front of her. The second thing she saw was the large bed she was laying on. It was a significant improvement over the bed that she slept in at Shiz, that much was certain. Glinda's brow furrowed in confusion at the thought. _Wait… if I'm not at Shiz, then where am I?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening. She looked towards the source of the sound, and she was surprised by who stepped through: a middle-aged man. He looked rather unassuming at first glance, but looks can be deceiving: this man held more power than anyone in Oz.

"The Wizard?" she muttered to herself. Her eyes widened slightly as she remembered why she would be in his presence, and she slapped herself mentally. _Of course!_ _He invited me here when Madame Morrible wrote to him about me. That's right! Oz, Galinda, wake up!_ she thought. The man then began speaking.

"Ah, Miss… Glinda, was it?" he asked.

"_Ga_linda. With a 'ga'," she corrected him. The man nodded.

"Oh, of course, _Ga_linda! We found you passed out last night on the floor of the attic," he explained. He raised an eyebrow and suddenly lowered his voice. "Do you happen to know what happened last night?" he asked in an almost threatening tone. She scrunched her face in confusion.

"Last night?" she thought aloud. "Let's see…" she said as she tried to remember. "I was talking with you, and then…" Her eyes widened in horror as she remembered what happened next. "This woman… she popped out of the shadows when you suggested that I be henceforth known as Galinda the Good. She went into a tantrum and everything started flying around. I was so scared… the next thing I knew, I was being dragged up the stairs to the attic. I didn't know what she was going to do. The worst part about it? Her skin was _green_," she said. The Wizard looked pleased and nodded. "Seriously, what kind of person has _green skin_?" The Wizard made eye contact with Galinda with a serious expression on his face.

"And do you know what she tried to do while you were up in that attic?" he asked. She shook her head, somewhat afraid to know the answer. His face darkened. "She tried to kill me," he said as he lowered his head. Galinda stiffened as her eyes widened again.

"S-She w-w-_what_?!" she stammered, trying to find her voice. The Wizard only nodded.

"Yes. I thought I was done for when she cornered me. Thank Oz that Madame Morrible was around to stop her; otherwise, I don't know what she would have done." Galinda suddenly gained a newfound respect for the old woman. The Wizard looked up once again with a sullen look on his face. "We have branded her as a Wicked Witch," he stated. Galinda breathed a sigh of relief at that. _At least Oz will know about this new terror,_ she thought. "Oh, and one more thing, Miss… _Ga_linda," he started. She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Would you like to be my Grand Vizier?" he offered. Galinda gaped at him in surprise.

"Uh-Um…" The Wizard quirked an eyebrow.

"Would you not?" he asked.

"Oh, no, no! I-I mean, yes, I would _love_ to, but it's just… uh…" she looked up at him sheepishly. "Why would you be asking me, of all people?" He grinned at her nervousness.

"Well, Oz needs a figurehead to lead them in the fight against the Witch, right?" Galinda nodded. "What better person is there to do that than you?" he asked with a smile. Galinda was taken aback at that.

"Oh, Your Ozness," she said with a dreamy tone, "I would love to!" The Wizard beamed at her.

"Good! Now, if you will excuse me, I have other things to attend to," he said, and with that, he left, leaving Galinda in a state of euphoria. _This is going to be fantastic,_ she thought as she lay back down in her bed. She drifted off, thinking of the wonderful things that she could now do.

* * *

Fiyero woke up with the sun shining bright in his face.

"Ugh, what time is it?" he muttered under his breath. Looking out of his window at the large clock standing proudly in the center of the campus, he swore under his breath. "Great, just great," he thought aloud. "I'm going to be late for class."

He got to his class about ten minutes late, earning him a disapproving look from the professor.

"Ah, Master Fiyero," he said. "Late again, I see. Tell me, do you have a valid excuse this time?" Looking directly at the professor, Fiyero put on the sweetest expression he could muster.

"I'm sorry, Professor. It won't happen again," he promised with a little bit of sarcasm in his voice. The professor glared at him and rolled his eyes, knowing it was futile to argue.

"Whatever," he said. "Just take your seat." Fiyero did so, and as he was getting his materials out, the girls behind him started to gossip. He recognized the voices as two of Galinda's friends.

"Hey, Pfannee," the girl behind him began. The girl sitting to the right of her looked up.

"What is it, Shenshen?" Pfannee said.

"Did you hear about that witch that tried to kill the Wizard last night?" That grabbed his attention. _Someone tried to kill the Wizard? _he thought, but he kept his mouth shut.

"No. Someone tried to kill the Wizard?" Pfannee asked, almost as if she could read Fiyero's mind. Shenshen nodded, and Pfannee's eyes widened. "Who would do something like that?"

"Oh, it was some disgusting hag, I'm sure. I mean, her skin is _green_, for crying out loud!" Hearing that sent a shudder down his spine. _Green? Who in the world has _green_ skin?_ He thought about everyone that he had ever seen or heard of, but not one of them had green skin.

"Someone would have to be just plain evil in order to do something like that," Pfannee thought aloud, and Fiyero couldn't help but agree with her. _She has green skin, she's a witch, and on top of all that, she tried to assassinate the most well-respected figure in all of Oz… _he mused. _Sounds pretty evil to me,_ he concluded.

Later that day, after all of his classes, he heard a knock at his door. When he opened it, he found that Madame Morrible was on the other side.

"Madame Morrible? What are you doing here?" he asked, slightly puzzled. She beamed at him.

"Oh, Fiyero, I have the most wonderful news!" she said cheerily. "I have just received word from the Wizard himself saying that your girlfriend has just been offered the position of Grand Vizier!" Fiyero stumbled back in shock.

"What?" he asked, slightly surprised but mostly elated.

"Yes, it's true!" she reassured him. "And she took it!" Fiyero laughed in surprise.

"This is-" he began, only to be cut off be Madame Morrible.

"Wait! There's more!" she said, handing him an emerald green envelope. "Go on. Read it." He opened the letter and studied it for a few. Then, he looked up at Madame Morrible again, gaping at her.

"Are you serious?" he asked incredulously. She nodded in response.

"Yes, it's true! The Wizard has requested, on behalf of Galinda, that you become his Captain of the Guard," she said. "Are you up for the challenge, though?" she asked, her face now rather serious. He looked at her in confusion. "You do realize that this means that your first priority will be hunting for the Witch, correct?" He stared at her for a second, thinking about it. Finally, he had a response.

"Yes, I do, and I accept his offer. That Witch tried to kill the most important man in all of our history, and she will pay," he said darkly. Madame Morrible smiled once again.

"Good. You will begin your service when school ends in a few weeks. Good luck." She turned and walked away as Fiyero thanked her. He lay on his bed, feeling overjoyed, and nodded off, thinking of what he would do once he took his new position.

* * *

**A/N: I have a feeling that I should probably go into hiding now. And yes, before you even say it, I know. I'm evil. MUAHAHAHAHA. On a more serious note, please review and let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!**


	3. Reminiscence

**Disclaimer: Under no circumstances do I claim ownership of the original elements from _Wicked_. I only own the plot, and all other rights go to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.**

**A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed!**

**Wizard: You couldn't be more correct (about the reading, that is).**

**Nymeria, Nia, and Fabala: Thank you!**

**Elphaba: O.O *shrinks back and mutters something about Elphaba being the one that casted the spell in the first place***

That night, Elphaba sat in a small cave-like alcove in the Great Gillikin Forest. She had made a small fire, and as she stared at the dancing flames, a thought hit her. _Was casting that spell really worth it?_ Surprised at the sudden thought, she lay down on the cold stone floor and shut her eyes.

"Don't be silly, Elphaba," she muttered to herself. "Of course it was."

_But they were your only friends,_ her mind reasoned, _and now they have it out for you just like the rest of Oz. If you had just let them be, you'd have somebody to fall back on._

_Don't be unreasonable,_ came the reply. _If I hadn't done it, I would only be putting them through daily torture. I couldn't do that to them. They're better off like this._

_Are they? Are they really? What happens if the spell wears off?_

_Impossible. That spell came from the Grimmerie, the most powerful spell book in all of Oz. No spell from that just "wears off"; the only way that it could is through a counter spell._

_How can you be sure? You've had that book for a whole day—how much time have you had to study it? What if it wears off after they've done something bad to you? Do you honestly think that they would ever forgive themselves if that happened?_

_Just be quiet already! I'll think about this in the morning._ No retort came, and she was able to fall asleep in peace.

* * *

"_Hey, Fae." Elphaba looked up towards the voice and smiled slightly._

"_Can you stop with that nickname already?" Fiyero twisted his expression into a mock frown._

"_But Galinda can call you 'Elphie'," he said in an over-exaggerated pout. "Why can't I call you 'Fae'?"_

_She looked at his face and rolled her eyes, chuckling. "I don't know," she said. "It just sounds really… cute." The prince quirked an eyebrow and smirked._

"_What's so wrong with cute?" he asked. She shrugged in response._

"_It just doesn't suit me, that's all," she replied in a quieter voice, looking down at the ground. Fiyero sat down next to her, leaning his back against the large tree behind them._

"_Oh, come on. Haven't we been over this already? Quit thinking that," he said in a surprisingly comforting tone of voice. She glared at him._

"_Why should I?" she asked, her voice suddenly cold. "The entire campus thinks I'm a freak. To be honest, I don't see why you and Galinda don't think the same." Fiyero looked at her with a serious expression._

"_Because we are your _friends_, Fae, and friends don't do that. They stick up for you." Her expression softened a bit._

"_Do… do you really mean that?" she asked hesitantly. Fiyero nodded._

"_Of course I do," he said. "And I bet anything that if you ask Galinda, she'll say the same thing." As much as Elphaba wanted to believe him, a part of her brain was saying that he was just saying that to make her feel better, and that part was pretty convincing in its argument. She looked at him doubtfully, and he gave her a warm smile in return. "I mean that," he stated simply. She could see how genuine he was being right now, and quickly turned away, blushing slightly. _Oz, Elphaba, what are you doing? He's dating Galinda, _she thought. _Quit letting yourself melt like this whenever you see him!_ She turned back to him._

"_I, uh… I should probably go. I just remembered that Galinda wanted me, to, uh… give her a makeover-" _No, you idiot, it's the other way around! _By the time she realized her mistake, however, Fiyero had already noticed and was looking at her with an expression somewhere in between shock and confusion._

"_Galinda wanted _you_ to give _her_ a makeover?" he asked incredulously. Her eyes widened a little and she blushed._

"_What? Oh, no, no!" she said quickly, trying to cover up her mistake. "I would never give _anyone_ a makeover unless they were seeking out a job in the circus," she half-joked. Fiyero chuckled and smiled._

"_Right, right. So, _she_ wanted to give _you_ a makeover, I presume?" he asked. For a moment, she considered saying no, but she quickly pushed the thought out of her head, saying that staying there would only make it worse._

"_Um, yeah, that's what I was trying to say. I probably shouldn't keep her waiting; you know Galinda and how she is when she's angry," she said. He laughed at that._

"_Well, I won't keep you any longer, then. See you tomorrow." He got up and began walking away. She sat there for a moment before getting up. Looking down at the grass below her, she smiled faintly and glanced at him one last time before walking away._

"_Yeah," she said softly. "See you tomorrow."_

* * *

When Elphaba opened her eyes, she was greeted by the soft morning light shining through the trees into the opening of the small cave. _What? Where's Fiyero? Where's Shiz? _she wondered, a bit disoriented from waking up. Once she got her bearings and remembered the events of the past few days, though, those thoughts quickly ceased. _With all of the things that I've been through for the last two days, _she thought, _why would I be dreaming about that?_ Remembering her conversation with, well, herself last night, her expression became one of annoyance.

"If you're trying to guilt trip me into casting the counter spell," she grumbled, looking up at her forehead, "you've got another thing coming." Locating her broomstick, she exited the cave, looking around to see if anyone was nearby. When she saw that the coast was clear, she got on her broomstick and started flying, making sure to be just above the tops of the trees in case of trouble. As she flew, she looked to her right. She could see Shiz University off in the distance, immediately making her think of Fiyero. _I hope he's okay,_ she thought, bringing her back to the question that was still hot on her mind: _Was it really worth it?_

* * *

**A/N: Well, this was a nice break from everything that's going on, and I thought it was nice to show a little insight on what Elphaba's thinking. Don't get used to it, though: it'll pick back up next chapter. Until then, thank you for reading, and please review!**


	4. Relive and Regret

**Disclaimer: Nothing in this story aside from the plot belongs to me. All other rights go to Gregory Maguire, Winnie Holzman, and Stephen Schwartz.**

**A/N: Oh, are you guys going to HATE me after this...**

**Thanks for the reviews! **

**Wizard: I agree.**

**Nia: Well, about that... *chuckles nervously***

**Elphaba: LOL NOPE.**

It had been about three months since the Witch incident began, and Elphaba was still going strong, helping as many Animals as she could while trying to keep both them and herself hidden from the Gale Force. It was a warm day in late summer, and she had just returned from an Animal camp to her newest hideout, another cave concealed within the forest that she had come to call home in her time as the Wicked Witch. This day, however, was special. No one knew the specifics, but for the past week, she had been telling the Animal inhabitants of the various camps that she had been visiting that she was going somewhere for a few days. When asked exactly where, they would always get a response such as "Oh, I'm just visiting an old friend" or "I'm meeting someone important". While both were technically true, it wasn't the entire truth. Heading out of her hiding spot, she got on her broomstick and flew off.

After about two hours, her destination came into view on the horizon, the sun setting behind it: a large metropolis with tall buildings and many people still moving about. The entire city was covered in a layer of green, giving it the appearance of being chiseled out of solid emerald. In the middle of the city stood the tallest structure in Oz: the home of the Wizard, the Royal Palace of Oz. _The Emerald City,_ Elphaba thought, thinking back to a few months prior when she had been there. _Those were different times,_ she reflected sadly. Diving under the cover of the trees to avoid being caught by the Gale Force, she landed on the forest floor. _If I hurry, I can make it before the sun rises, _she thought, and she began walking.

After a few more hours of walking through the woods on the northeastern side of the city with surprisingly no consequence, she finally came to the edge. Standing in front of her in all of its grandeur was the Emerald City. _Now, the question is,_ she began, _how do I get in without getting either captured or killed?_ Pulling out the Grimmerie, she flipped through its pages until something caught her eye: an invisibility spell that could turn anything that she wanted to invisible, as long as it was nearby. Studying it further, she found that it was rather weak: it only lasted for five minutes. _That should hopefully be enough time to do what I need to do._ Laying the book on the ground and closing her eyes, she began chanting quietly.

"_Yahru katan quelos ubra, yahru katan quelos ubra_..." As she chanted, she felt the magic take effect: a strange, warm feeling passed through her entire body, and when she opened her eyes again, she was pleased to find that it worked. She found that the Grimmerie and broomstick had turned invisible as well as she, but she, being the caster of the spell, could still see them—the only thing different about them was a magical shimmer enveloping them, signifying that it had worked. Putting away the Grimmerie, she got on her broomstick and flew over the walls of the great city, heading in the direction of the palace.

It didn't take very long to get to the palace—only about 30 seconds—but that was the easy part. The hard part was to locate the room that she was looking for. Flying around the palace and scouting for the right window took about one minute in total, leaving her with just three-and-a-half minutes left. When she finally came to the correct window, she stopped in her tracks. There, in the room, were the sleeping forms of her two former companions: Galinda and Fiyero. They looked very peaceful snuggled up together, and Elphaba allowed a single tear to roll down her face as she pressed her hand against the window. She was glad to see that they were ok; although she was sure it would be plastered all across Oz if something were to happen to either of them, she just had to see for herself.

As she looked at Galinda, she was reminded of their time at Shiz University together. The usually-bubbly blonde had always looked so much more tame when she was sleeping, and seeing her like this brought back memories of the two walking into their dorm room at two in the morning after Galinda had dragged the young witch to some party. The blonde was usually tipsy at the very least after things like those, and they always stayed up for another half-hour sharing secrets. Elphaba smiled at the memories and shifted her gaze to Fiyero.

Looking at Fiyero reminded her of the day that they met: how he had almost run over her with his carriage and how he was so cocky at first. Her mind then shifted over to her memory of the day that she rescued the Lion cub. She remembered how it felt when she grabbed his hand, how it felt when they made eye contact, and how it felt when, for the first time, it wasn't broken immediately. Their eyes were locked on each other's for what felt like hours, and it seemed that something changed during that time. All of a sudden, Fiyero seemed much more vulnerable, more sensitive. The look in his eyes softened, and his façade seemed to crumble for a split second.

Elphaba was too lost in her memories to notice the spell wearing off as the five-minute mark came and went, and by the time she subconsciously whispered Fiyero's name, it was too late. Eyes widening in shock as she noticed the slight crack in the window, she whipped her head back to face the bed. As her chocolate-brown eyes shot up to Fiyero's face, they were met with a pair of equally shocked light-blue ones.

* * *

**...Please don't kill me...Instead, how about you try reviewing? *smiles innocently*  
**


	5. Breaking Point

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot. All other rights belong to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.**

**Notice: This is the last day before Spring Break ends, so updates are probably going to slow down from here. Just wanted to let you guys know.**

**A/N: So, this chapter is fairly dark. I'm not really going to say much else; I'll let the chapter speak for itself. Thanks to everyone that reviewed!**

The two were still for a split second, frozen in time. Elphaba was floating outside of the window, her body paralyzed from an overwhelming sense of dread and fear quickly working its way through her body. She could hear her heart pound in her chest, and everything stood still for just a moment. Fiyero suddenly leapt out of bed, and she willed her body to move, but the captain was faster. Grabbing her arm through the crack, he jerked her through. He moved his face dangerously close to hers.

"And just what do you think you're doing, _Witch_?" he hissed, his voice full of anger and malice. Forcing herself to remain composed at the sight of him saying that, Elphaba scowled at him.

"What does it matter to you, _Captain_?" she mocked, making him grab the collar of her dress and lift her up forcibly. By this time, Galinda had woken up as well.

"Fifi?" she asked groggily, wiping her eyes and yawning. "What's going-" she opened her eyes before she could complete her question, freezing when she saw Elphaba. The young witch cursed mentally, and the blonde jumped out of bed like Fiyero did, narrowing her eyes to the point that they looked like slits.

"You!" she breathed pointedly, storming over to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked threateningly. Elphaba felt a pang at that, suddenly finding herself with the desire to be with them again, to have someone to lean on… _No!_ she berated herself. _They're better off without me,_ she reasoned. Throughout this little exchange, she had somehow managed to maintain a stoic expression, angering the two political figures standing before her.

"Hey," Fiyero said through gritted teeth. "She asked you a question." Elphaba turned her head toward him, putting an imaginary veil over her face so as not to betray any emotions.

"I heard," she stated flatly, saying nothing more. His eyes narrowed.

"Fine, then. If you're not going to tell us willingly, then I guess we'll just have to force the answer out of you instead," he threatened, smirking as he said the last part. Though she kept her emotions hidden well externally, internally, she was bombarded with raw fear as she realized what that meant. Before she could fully process the implications of what he said, however, it was too late. "Guards!" the captain yelled, dropping her on the floor. Instantly, Gale Force soldiers rushed into the room and, upon seeing the Wicked Witch, ran toward her and lifted her up by her hands. "Take her to Southstairs," Fiyero ordered, and the soldiers complied, exiting the room with the witch in tow.

* * *

"Get in there, Witch," one of the soldiers commanded as they quite literally threw her into the cell. She turned her head around, glaring at the group of men. The one that she assumed to be the highest ranking of the group—the same one that had just spoken to her—merely laughed in response. "You think you're so powerful, Witch?" he asked, returning her glare with one of his own. He smirked, holding up an old book that they had confiscated from her: the Grimmerie. "Without this," he began, pointing at the book, "you are nothing." With that, the group turned away from her and began heading up the spiraling stairs to the entrance of the prison, leaving Elphaba to her own devices. She walked to the corner of her cell and sat down, thinking about what had just transpired. As much as she didn't want to admit it, that guard was right. Sure, she had powers that she could use on her own, but those were extremely unpredictable; she couldn't control what they did or when they were released. She needed that book to be able to really do anything. As she was thinking, she didn't notice her eyelids beginning to fall, and before hardly any time had passed, Elphaba was asleep.

_When Elphaba woke up, she didn't know where she was. She was standing in a wide grassy section between two strips of pavement leading into large buildings. There were people moving all about, carrying various materials such as books and binders. Taking a good look at her surroundings, it hit her like a ton of bricks: this was Shiz University._

"_If this is Shiz," she muttered to herself, "then why aren't the students gawking at me?" She looked around for another few seconds before something—or, rather, some_one_—caught her attention: a young, petite blonde running toward her with a huge smile plastered on her face. Elphaba smiled herself at the sight and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Oz, Galinda, what's got you all excited?" she asked when the blonde got to her._

"_Oh, Elphie! Ok, so, long story short: I met this boy in class today, right? Well, we started talking about how boring the class is, and then, he asked me if I had any plans for tonight, so I told him 'no', and then we started talking again, and-"_

"_Galinda," Elphaba interrupted. "You're rambling." Galinda flushed slightly._

"_Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, he asked me to go to a party tonight, and guess what?" Elphaba groaned internally as she "guessed what". "You're coming with me!" Galinda did a ridiculous little dance in her excitement, and Elphaba couldn't help but chuckle._

"_Galinda, you know I don't do parties," she said. Galinda looked at her pleadingly._

"_Oh, please, Elphie? Come on! It'll be fun!"_

"_Really, it's ok." Galinda looked at her with an angry look in her face._

"_Oh, I see. You think that you can do whatever you want, and it'll be okay, huh?" she accused. Elphaba looked at her in surprise, her lips parted slightly._

"_What? I was just saying-"_

"_Don't hand me any of that, Witch!" Suddenly, her surroundings changed. She was now back in the bedroom of the Grand Vizier and the Captain of the Guard. Elphaba instinctively took a step back, dumbfounded. Galinda was still looking at her, rage clearly visible in her eyes. "You think that you can make any decision you want without consequence, is that right? Have you ever considered what your actions would do to other people?!" Elphaba could feel tears pricking at her eyes, but she wiped them away as she allowed anger to overtake her._

"_No, I haven't, and do you know why?" she shouted. "I've been alone all of my life! My mother? Dead. My father? He hates me! My sister? She loves me to a degree, sure, but she's only ever seen me as a servant." She shut her eyes, trying to avoid looking at Galinda as much as possible. "Excuse me if I don't know what it feels like to matter to other people," she said, her voice lowered to a near whisper. When she opened her eyes again, all she saw was black._

* * *

When Elphaba truly woke up, she was being yelled at.

"Get up, Witch!" a man shouted. Slightly disoriented from her dream, it took a moment to register that the person shouting at her was a guard standing in front of her cell. He was accompanied by several other guards. They unlocked the cell door and went in, forcibly grabbing her wrists and lifting her up. They chained her hands together behind her back. "You have been summoned to the Throne Room," the same man as before said with a smirk. They shoved her out of the cell, and they began walking toward the palace.

When they got to the Throne Room, there were four people standing there, all of whom she recognized. Sitting in the throne in the back of the room was the one and only Wizard of Oz. On his left was Madame Morrible, and on his right were Galinda and Fiyero. Madame Morrible smiled sinisterly as she noticed Elphaba and the guards.

"Ah, the Wicked Witch of the West," she said. "What a pleasant surprise." Elphaba scowled at the old woman before focusing on the two people standing together on the other side of the Wizard. Both of them were wearing stern expressions, and Elphaba could've sworn she saw a trace of amusement in Fiyero's eyes as he watched her be forced into the center of the room. She looked at the Wizard with an apathetic expression as he spoke.

"Witch," he began, making Elphaba cringe inwardly. "I've heard you were found sneaking around Master Fiyero and Lady Galinda's room last night. While I have no reason to doubt their word, I am still required to ask: is that true?" he questioned. Elphaba responded by staring at him with a blank look in her face. After a few moments, he grew irritated. "Answer me!" he demanded. When still no response came, he looked at Fiyero and nodded. Fiyero nodded back and withdrew a long, fibrous object from one of the pouches on his belt. _A whip,_ Elphaba thought. As Fiyero walked toward her, she kept her eyes fixed on him, glaring. When he was finally standing next to her with a dark look in his eyes, he raised the whip.

She could hear the air whistling as the whip was brought down, but nothing could've prepared her for the pain. A _crack_ sounded as it made contact with her skin, and a sharp, stinging pain spread across her back, and it didn't take long for the sensation of a warm, wet, sticky substance rolling down her back to appear. The whip was brought down again, and she had to bite back tears this time; she refused to let them have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. A male voice cut through the air.

"Will you tell us now?" the man standing next to her asked calmly. That was all it took for memories to resurface of her time at Shiz. They had been such good friends back then. What happened? _I happened,_ she reminded herself. Fiyero, receiving no response, brought the whip down again. Hard. "Listen to me!" he shouted angrily as Elphaba struggled to shut out her pain, both physical and mental. "Unless you enjoy the idea of having your back torn open, I suggest you answer, _Witch_!" The amount of hatred carried in the last word resonated in Elphaba, breaking down the barrier between her conscious mind and her memories. Everything flooded back in vivid detail, and she couldn't help but long to feel at home again, like she had at Shiz.

_Crack._ The whip was brought down again. Fiyero yelled something, but she was too busy living in her memories to understand it.

_Crack._ Everything that had happened so far hit her like a wall. Everyone she had ever known always ended up changed in some way. _Because of me._

_Crack. _Trying to keep from crying, she failed to notice the strange sensation welling up in the pit of her stomach.

_Crack._ The sensation became stronger, spreading throughout her entire body. It was only then that she realized what it was. Her eyes widened in horror.

_Crack. _She tried to stop it, but to no avail.

_Crack._ It was threatening to spill out of her now, yet she still was attempting to somehow tame it, to stop it before-

_Crack._

A strong, invisible shockwave emanated from the green girl, sending everyone that was standing near her flying into the walls. Everyone within the room was at the very least knocked to the ground, and some were rendered unconscious. Elphaba looked around, seeing what she had done, and she sprung to her feet despite her back's protests. She froze when she turned toward the throne. There, slumped on the floor, was the unmoving form of Galinda.

_No…_ She took a step back reflexively as she continued to stare at her, checking for any signs of motion. Her eyes welled up with tears once more when nothing happened. Backing away towards the window on the side of the room, she was so distraught that she didn't notice a certain soldier moving to pick up his gun. She didn't notice when that gun was pointed in her direction. The only thing she noticed was a piercing pain in her abdomen as a gunshot echoed throughout the room.

* * *

**...Review?**


	6. Convalescence - Part One

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I only own the plot. If you want someone to credit, credit Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews!**

**Nymeria: Um... by the time that happens (and yes, it will happen), I'd be feeling bad for both of them... you'll see.**

**Elphaba: Sorry, sorry! I swear, I won't torture you... this chapter, at least... Okay, maybe just a little...**

Elphaba froze the instant it happened. Pain radiated from the left side of her body as the loud sound registered in her brain. The instant that she was able to process what had just happened, she snapped out of her short-lived stasis. Slowly turning her head in the direction of the bullet, she was horrified at what she saw: a soldier lying on the ground, holding a still-smoking musket. This wasn't just any soldier, though: this was the Captain of the Guard himself. The two locked eyes for just a moment, hers filled with horror, his filled with triumph.

A wave of weariness suddenly racked her body, and she collapsed to her knees, suddenly feeling the full impact of the bullet wound on her body. She never took her eyes off of Fiyero, however, and she felt more hurt than she ever thought possible. She had to rein in her emotions even so; she knew that he didn't know of his true past, and she just couldn't hold a grudge for that. It wasn't his fault—it was hers. She was the one that ruined the lives of everyone around her; that had been made perfectly clear from the start. He raised his gun once more, this time aiming for her head. Accepting what was about to happen as all of her guilt, grief, and pain ran through her body at the same time, she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact that was sure to end her life.

_Perhaps it will be better this way,_ she thought. _He and Galinda can live happily, get married, start a family…_ She opened her eyes again when she heard a thud. Turning in Fiyero's direction, her eyes widened in shock upon seeing him sprawled out on the floor. Her eyes filled with an all-too-familiar liquid once again when she saw it, but something different happened this time: she allowed them to flow freely. She saw no use in concealing them any longer since everyone around her was either too dazed to notice or unconscious. Or worse. Oz, she hoped it wasn't the latter. 21 years' worth of constant dehumanization came crashing down on her as she took in the scene. She had known her powers had potential, but this? Some of these people could be dead, for all she knew, and it would've entirely been her fault.

Another wave of weariness and nausea went through her body. She looked down at her side where the bullet had entered. For whatever reason, it hadn't seemed to have been bleeding very much at the beginning. Now, however, blood was leaking out at a faster rate. She stood up, nearly doubling over as her body screamed in protest. Looking around, a slight smile worked its way onto her face despite what had just transpired. In the corner of the room, there just so happened to be a spare broomstick. It was hidden well in the shadows, but she was just barely able to make out its shape. Going over to it in a limp/run, her body crying out against her movements with every step, she grabbed hold of it. She straddled the broom in an effort to see if it was _her_ broom, and to her utmost surprise, it lifted her off of the ground.

_Hidden in plain sight,_ she mused. _Well, almost, at any rate._ She flew over to the window, suddenly feeling much weaker. Almost the entire side of her black dress was soaked through with blood, and she knew she needed to get out before anything else. Taking one last mournful look at the room, she flew out of the opening, heading towards the forest. She didn't care if anyone saw her; they could kill her right here and now, and she wouldn't mind. Somehow, no one had seen her. _They must have gone inside upon hearing the commotion,_ she reasoned. Her stomach suddenly lurched, and she noticed her vision was beginning to fade. The pain in her side worsened, and the wound was now bleeding fairly heavily. Before she could react, her vision went completely black, and the last thing she felt was the sensation of falling towards the forest floor.

* * *

When she came to, she was greeted by voices. It sounded like they were having a conversation, but she couldn't see anything, her eyes unwilling to open in her current condition. She strained to listen to the discussion, but she was only able to make out bits and pieces of it.

"…took quite a fall…"

"…bleeding severely…"

"…can't say for sure…" She was able to put two and two together and figure out they were talking about her with minimal effort. Now that she thought about that, she found it rather amusing that she was able to think clearly, yet even the simple task of listening to a conversation was taking a fair amount of energy to perform. She began to stir unconsciously, and the voices immediately died down.

"Oh, she's waking up!" one voice said in a quiet yet excited manner. She heard someone ushering someone else out of the room and then the sound of a door closing. She then heard footsteps rush over to her, and she strained to open one of her eyes. She could see that she was lying on a bed in a semi-small room, and she was currently staring into the face of a Goat. It wasn't just any Goat, though: she knew this one.

"Farin?" she asked weakly, scrunching her face in slight confusion. The Goat simply smiled with a relieved look on his face.

"Hello, Miss Elphaba," he said in a friendly tone. She wondered what she was doing in this room. She had met Farin a while back ago; in fact, he was one of the first Animals that she had met when she entered an Animal camp for the first time. He was the best physician in the camp, so what was he doing talking to her? More importantly, what was she doing lying in one of his beds? Then, the memories of what happened right before she passed out came back to her. Eyes widening, she attempted another question.

"How…how long have I been out?" she asked, trying—and failing—to get up.

"Hold on, Miss Elphaba! You haven't fully recovered from your wounds yet. The last thing you need to do is try to get out of bed," he advised sternly. "To answer your question, you were brought here about two days ago, unconscious and bleeding profusely from that gunshot wound there," he answered, gesturing to the healing hole in her side. "I immediately got to work on you—fortunately, I didn't have any other serious cases to deal with. I managed to extract the bullet from your side and patch up your injuries, but they will take a while to heal." She felt relieved at that; she was glad that someone had found her before it was too late. Speaking of which, though…

"Farin," she began as another question flashed through her mind, "who brought me here?" The Goat doctor smiled gently.

"Leon," he answered. She smiled at that. Leon was a small Lion cub that she had brought to the camp about two months prior. It came as no surprise to her that he was already able to bring her to the camp; Animals matured much faster than humans. She had taken a liking to him as well for more reasons than one. Not only was he incredibly grateful to her for rescuing him, but he reminded her of a certain day just before the Wicked Witch fiasco started. Elphaba put her head back down and closed her eyes, feeling an incredible amount of happiness at the memory before falling asleep. That night, she dreamed of that day.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! ****Thanks in advance for reviewing!**


	7. Convalescence - Part Two

**Disclaimer: All rights, excluding the plot of this story, belong to Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holzman.**

**A/N: One word: school. It sure has a way of eating at your free time, doesn't it? At any rate, here is the next chapter! Nothing too exciting, but boy, do I feel bad for Elphaba... Thanks to everyone that reviewed!**

Elphaba's recovery only lasted a couple of weeks, but to her, it seemed like an eternity. She was given the standard treatment for her injuries—pain medication and antibiotics in case of infection—and she was thankful that she was in Farin's care, but she simply couldn't stand by and do nothing. Every second of her bedridden first week killed her as she was forced to wait until the Goat told her that she was healthy enough to move around. Leon came to visit her constantly, and they both caught up on each other's experiences since they had last met. Other than that, however, it was boring.

At the start of the second week, Farin came in to tell her that she was allowed to move around for a limited amount of time every day. That day, she wasn't allowed to be up for very long—only about 10 minutes or so—but to her, it felt like a lifetime. It was a sign that she was well on her way to resuming what she had been doing previously, and she was overjoyed at this. By the end of the week, she was able to get up and move around with a bit of help, be it from the crutches that the doctor had given her or from one of the Animals in the camp. Leon was more than willing to help her around, even when she insisted that she didn't need it.

"Come on, Miss Elphaba!" he would say to her.

"No," she would reply, somewhat curtly. "And there's no need for formality here. I'm perfectly fine with you just calling me 'Elphaba'," she would add. And yet, he would continue to do so. Perhaps it would've annoyed her more if she weren't so fond of him, but every time she looked into his blue eyes, she was reminded of someone that she had become particularly close with not too long ago—someone who was now bent on destroying her and everything she stood for. Even so, she couldn't help but wander back to when her life was much simpler; a time when she only had to worry about the ruthless stream of insults day in and day out. Although they did hurt her internally, what she felt then was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. Back in the palace in the Emerald City, the full weight of what she had managed to do had come crashing down on her for the first time in all of its ice-cold truth.

_Great job, Elphaba,_ she thought one day while she was lying in bed after her daily walk around the camp. _You've managed to take two of the only people in Oz who would've given you a sporting chance and turn them against you as well._ She then let her mind drift back into her memories of Shiz, surrounded by the people she had grown to love. Oz, had it really only been a few months since? It felt like a lifetime ago. When she had made the decision to cast that spell back then, she would never have guessed that this was going to be her future, recovering from bullet and whip wounds inflicted by _Fiyero_, of all people, in an Animal camp while the Grimmerie was locked securely away in the Wizard's palace. She would give anything at this point to turn back the clock, to set things right. The fact of the matter, however, no matter how cruel it may be, was that there was no longer anything she could do. That realization, accompanied with all of the regret, pain, and, most of all, _guilt_ that she had kept bottled up over her time as the Wicked Witch was enough to push her over the limit. For the first time ever since she could remember, she cried. She allowed the tears to flow freely down her face as she buried her face in the bed. Her breaths quickly turned into short hiccups as she continued to cry.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered into the bed, her only solace being that no one was around to hear. "Glinda, Fiyero…" She wasn't entirely sure what exactly she was apologizing for, but truthfully, she no longer cared. Almost as if her very own mind was trying to calm her, the warm memories of Shiz came back, stronger than ever before. She quickly got lost in them, the tears beginning to dry up. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

* * *

_Elphaba looked up from her book when she heard footsteps approaching. Grinning slightly at the amount of books in the prince's hands, she quirked an eyebrow teasingly._

"_Well, well, would you look at that? The oh, so, scandalacious Fiyero Tiggular is _studying_ for once," she remarked. He grinned at her, scoffing quietly as he placed the books on the table rather carelessly._

"_Yeah, well, we did arrange to meet in the library for a reason, didn't we?" he replied._

"_I suppose so," she agreed. Pulling a book from one of the few small piles that the books had fallen in, she glanced at him once again. "You sure have a lot of books with you," she noted._

"_Some people have other things to do than study," he retorted in a friendly manner. Immediately, her face darkened, causing Fiyero to look at her quizzically. "What's the matter?" She looked at him, her face now stormy._

"_Some people don't exactly have a say in the matter," she replied, perhaps a bit more icily than she had intended. A look of sudden understanding and maybe a bit of panic crossed the Vinkun's features._

"_Oh, no, Elphaba!" he said quickly. "I didn't mean-"_

"_Some people don't have friends to invite them somewhere," she interrupted, her voice a bit louder than usual. "Some people find studying rather comforting." Her voice was a bit angrier, and her eyes started to dampen. All of a sudden, her face softened and her voice lowered. "Some people aren't normal," she said in a near whisper, turning away from Fiyero. "They never have been, nor will they ever be." She closed her eyes for a brief second before jumping at the sensation of someone touching her hand. She turned back around, seeing that the one that had caused the sensation was none other than the prince sitting across the table, a look of compassion in his eyes. He smiled softly._

"_Fae," he started. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking. I just want you to know that you're not all alone. You have Galinda, Nessa, me... We're all here for you." His words helped to comfort her, and she squeezed his hand instinctually. She stared at him for a moment, her lips parted slightly._

"_Fiyero…" she said in a soft voice. "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me." He smiled before she pulled him into a hug, perhaps more subconsciously than consciously. Surprisingly, he didn't immediately pull away; on the contrary, he returned the hug. They stood there for a moment before breaking away, and a small smile graced her features. Maybe she wasn't all alone, after all._

* * *

**Aww, fluff... enjoy it while it lasts... *evil grin* I'd like to know what you think about the dream sequences. Are they good? Bad? "Meh"? Let me know in that big box below! Thanks for reviewing!**


	8. Alone

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I only own this plot and the OC's.**

**BIG. FAT. WARNING: Violence. Death. That's all I'm going to say.**

**A/N: So... if you read the warning above, you can guess what's going to happen. Well, maybe not entirely, but you'll have an idea. Overall, I'm pretty proud of this chapter. Not only is it the longest chapter in my (short) repertoire, but I'm really happy at how it turned out. Thanks for the reviews!**

By the middle of the third week since the incident at the palace, Elphaba had made a full recovery. She was now able to walk around as well as she had been able to before, but that didn't keep Leon from worrying about her. In the middle of the afternoon that Wednesday, as she was walking around and making small talk to the Animals as she always did, Leon came up to her for the third time that day.

"Hello, Miss Elphaba!" he said with an enthusiastic undertone to his voice. She groaned internally at the name. She was used to being called that by the other Animals, but that was usually just scattered here and there. Leon, however, was constantly talking to her, and he flat-out refused to call her anything but "Miss Elphaba". Hiding her slight irritation, she turned around and looked down slightly, meeting his eyes, which were just about level with her shoulders by now.

"Leon, I've told you several times before, and I'll tell you again," she chided him. "Please, stop calling me 'Miss Elphaba' all the time." He looked a bit shocked at her statement for a moment before looking confused.

"But, Miss El-" he began before seeing the mild glare sent his way by the young witch. "Elphaba," he started again, and the look in her face softened. "Why shouldn't I show you respect? After all, you _are_ the one that rescued me," he reasoned. Elphaba sighed in exasperation.

"I just-" she started before stopping abruptly. She couldn't tell him the real reason, could she? She feared that if he knew, he wouldn't trust her anymore. Still, what other plausible excuse did she have? _I don't like it. _That may have been the easiest response to say, but she knew that saying that wouldn't make sense. If that were true, then why does she not complain about it any other time that it's said? _Maybe I should tell him…_ She was just about to open her mouth when images flashed across her mind.

"_Why, Miss Elphaba, look at you. You're beautiful." A particularly bubbly, partially drunk blonde handed her a mirror, smiling gently as she did so. The person that appeared in the frame was completely different from what she was used to. The green was still glaringly obvious, but there was just something… off. And now, studying the figure in the glass, she wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing._ Elphaba quickly made it a point to shake that memory out of her head, trying to keep from even more of it from attacking her. Even though she succeeded in doing so, the scene was quickly replaced by another.

"_Hey, Miss Elphaba," a certain prince sitting next to her in the classroom whispered. She jolted at the sudden use of her name, considering almost everyone on campus seemed to prefer picking from a rather colorful palette of nicknames over actually treating her like a person. She looked over at Fiyero expectantly. "May I see your notes?" he asked, shocking her. Since when does _Fiyero Tiggular_ ask for notes? On any other day, she would've perhaps looked more into this, but she was particularly tired at the moment and, as such, not really in the mood for such a discussion. Wordlessly, if not confusedly, she handed him her notebook, causing him to give her a radiant smile. "Thanks," he said. She nodded, turning away to hide the blush that she was sure was starting to creep onto her cheeks._

"Elphaba?" Leon asked worriedly, seeing the distant look in her eyes. She jostled, snapping her out of the trance that she had been in. Shaking her head dazedly, she looked at him.

"Oh, yes, sorry," she said, trying to rid herself of the memories that had crept into her mind. "I… well…" she began, trying to find the right words. "It just reminds me of something that I'd rather not be reminded of," she answered after a brief silence. It may not have been the entire truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie, either.

"Oh," the Lion stated simply. He didn't say any more after that, but Elphaba could tell that he wasn't entirely satisfied with her answer. The witch was about to move the conversation along to another, hopefully less personal topic when a group of Porcupines barreled through the entrance on the opposite end of the camp, causing everyone to look in their direction.

"Where's Miss Elphaba?" one of them asked loudly and frantically. The witch, seeing that this was urgent, turned back to Leon.

"I'll be right back," she said to him. He looked back at her and nodded, and she walked towards the newcomers.

"What seems to be the matter?" she asked when she got close to the group. The same Porcupine as before, who had been talking to another Animal, whipped around at the sudden voice.

"Oh, Miss Elphaba! I have important news to tell you. Well, it's more like showing you, but-"

"What is it, then?" she asked impatiently. Reaching into a burlap sack that the group had brought with them, the Porcupine pulled out a few sheets of paper.

"We overheard a few people talking about certain… _things_ going on today while we were on the outskirts of the forest on the border of the Emerald City, and we were able to obtain a copy of the local newspaper," the Porcupine explained. Elphaba gaped at the last part of that.

"In broad daylight?" she asked incredulously. "How in Oz did you accomplish that?"

"We can be stealthy when we want to be," came the short reply. The prickly Animal handed Elphaba the newspaper tentatively, as if she was reluctant to inform Elphaba about this "important news". Somewhat warily, she looked down, stopping in shock when she read the headline.

_Gale Force Closing in on Wicked Witch's Whereabouts_

Her eyes immediately shot upward, looking at the Porcupine in a state somewhere in between panic and raw fear. Her jaw dropped, seeming to unhinge like that of a snake. The Porcupine looked back at her with a mixture of worry and sympathy on its face. Unable to form any words, the witch looked back at the paper.

_Though much speculation as to where the Wicked Witch is hiding has been brought up since she was discovered, no one has, until now, had any solid evidence to back it up. Last night, the Captain of the Guard, Fiyero Tiggular, in an impromptu announcement, proclaimed that the Gale Force had reason to suspect that she may be closer than we think._

"_Her cause is helping the rebellious Animals overthrow the Wizard, correct?" he began. "Therefore, it should follow that she resides in some form of Animal shelter or camp. Given the injuries inflicted on her in the palace before her escape, she could not have possibly traveled far. I do not think that she died from them, for she is much too powerful to be stopped by even the deadliest of weapons. She most likely used her accursed magic to heal herself, but our resident expert in that field, Madame Morrible, has informed us that it most likely wouldn't have been enough to heal herself completely. She probably went to the nearest Animal camp, and we believe we may know the general area in which she is based on that information."_

The article continued on, but Elphaba couldn't bring herself to read any more. She could picture Fiyero saying that, his eyes steeled with resolve. Even though she knew he didn't know anything about her, she still found it hard to believe that he and, she assumed, Galinda, had fallen for the Wizard's lies. She could almost feel the propaganda instilled in the minds of the Ozians from these two short paragraphs, and it hurt her more than anything she had ever heard before that they could possibly think that she was something so… _sub-human_. She looked back up at the Porcupine, a strange combination of hurt and determination dancing in her eyes.

"Thank you," she said somewhat softly as she handed the paper back to the Animal.

"What are we going to do?" the Porcupine asked timidly.

"They're looking for me," Elphaba reasoned. "They're still out to get you, yes, but their main priority is capturing _me_. I'm going to have to leave," she said, earning a shocked look from the Animals in the vicinity. "If I stay here, they'll definitely find you. All of you. If I go away, maybe fly above the tree line so they can see me clearly, then-"

"Miss Elphaba!" a Cat interrupted. "You can't be serious! If you do that, then…" the Cat trailed off, searching for the right words. "They have arrows, Miss Elphaba. The higher-ups have _guns_. Doing something like that is practically a suicide mission!" The green woman turned to face the Cat, a look of sadness in her eyes.

"I know," she stated softly. "But when the alternative is them finding the camp, then…. Well, what other choice do I have?" No one had a decent response to that, and so she nodded, turned around, and walked away without saying another word.

A couple hours later, she was on her broomstick, saying a final goodbye to everyone. She turned and looked at Leon and his adoptive parents, who waved goodbye. Leon stepped forward.

"Elphaba, are you sure I can't go with you?" he asked dejectedly. Elphaba frowned at this. When she had explained the situation to him and his parents, he immediately wanted to go with her. Both her and his parents adamantly denied the cub, but he insisted and insisted. Eventually, Elphaba couldn't take his constant asking any more, and she snapped at him. It was only a brief loss of composure, but it was enough to hurt him. With tears brimming in his eyes, he had turned around and, slowly and melancholily, walked into his house, slamming the door behind him. She felt bad for making him upset, but she knew that he wouldn't do well in the wilderness, away from home. Add that to the fact that he was barely four months old, and he just couldn't be allowed to go.

"Leon," she began. "I know how much you would love to come with me, but trust me, it's better if you stay." Leon, obviously expecting this reply, merely nodded and fell back into the circle with his parents.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, everyone. Thank you for having me." Elphaba had never really been one for giving long, drawn-out speeches—that was more Galinda's thing—so she just settled for that. With one final look around, she took to the skies, making sure to be well above the top of the forest for all of Oz to see her. She glanced back one last time, hoping that her plan would work, and set her course westward, towards the Vinkus. _Goodbye, everyone,_ she thought gloomily. _See you later._ As she flew, she realized one last thing: she really_ was _all alone, after all.

* * *

Her plan worked. The Gale Force did, in fact, see her flying through the sky. They were just about to head after her when their captain spoke up, silencing the minor riot that had started. Everyone looked at the man, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Men," he began. "I'm no Fiyero Tiggular, but I'm still in charge, so listen to me before going off on your own agenda." The Captain of the Guard was absent from this reconnaissance-esque mission due to him having a meeting with the Wizard and his various other advisors, leaving the second-in-command, Markus Findral, in charge of the small-medium-sized group. "I'm sure we all just saw that figure up there," he began, and the men nodded in assent. "And I'm sure we all want to go after her right now, correct?" At that, they started murmuring excitedly, not wanting to upset Markus. He was fairly strict, but he was rather personable when not in his "business persona". Physically, he had a resemblance to Fiyero to an extent: he was tall, strong, and the two sounded similar, though Markus' voice was a little bit higher, to name a few similarities. Mentally, however, the two were very different. "Well, I, for one, don't think that would be very prudent," he stated, earning shocked looks from everyone in front of him. "Let me explain before you protest," he demanded seriously. "The Witch came from that direction, correct?" he asked pointing in the direction from which she'd flown. "And she's been rumored to have been hiding in an Animal camp, right? Well, if you put two and two together…" He continued to explain what he was thinking, and by the end of his speech, everyone agreed with him. It was decided that his idea would be their course of action for now.

It happened late at night, when all of the Animals were in their homes in the camp, asleep. All except for one, that is. Leon was still upset with Elphaba for not taking him with her, and he was having trouble falling asleep. He looked out of his second-story window with great boredom, mindlessly tapping on the windowsill. Suddenly, there was a loud booming sound, followed by the sight of the flaming remnants of what was, just a moment ago, a house at the entrance of the camp flying in all directions. His eyes widening, he immediately tore himself away from the window, running down the stairs. His parents were already there, waiting for him. His mother picked him up, running outside with his father close behind. By that point, three more of those booms had sounded, and there were the definitive screams of various Animals coming from outside.

Outside of the house, there was now a mass hysteria. Animals were running everywhere, trying to find a way past the tall fence surrounding the area. Leon looked towards the entrance of the camp and was alarmed to see a group of men wearing all-too-familiar green uniforms. The light cast on them by the fires that had started to spread to the outer edges of the small clearing made them look even more imposing. Upon seeing them, the Animals closer to the entrance began running toward the soldiers, but they didn't make it far. Several gunshots rang out, clear and crisp even among the crackling of the infernos and the cacophony of noises coming from the Animals. Blood splattered everywhere as lifeless bodies crumpled to the ground.

The visuals and sounds coming to Leon all at once made him feel numb suddenly, and he was vaguely aware of that fact that he was still moving, still being carried by his mother. All too soon, he felt the sensation stop as he was lowered to the ground. His mother had found a rather large pile of hay, and had quickly made a small opening in its base. She pushed him inside of it, saying comforting words to him… not that he actually heard them. He could only continue to stare at the scene, completely and utterly detached from reality, as his parents ran towards the advancing Gale Forcers.

His eyes tracked his mother first. She ran up to one of the Gale Forcers while they were distracted and attacked him. He wrestled with her for a second, pushing her off of him. He pointed his gun at her, and she lunged at him, to no avail. He slammed the butt of his gun into her face, knocking her down onto the ground, momentarily stunned. Before she could have the chance to react, he fired his gun three times, and her body went completely limp, a pool of blood rapidly growing directly underneath her head. If Leon were able to feel anything right now, he would've been screaming his head off. Instead, however, he simply lied there underneath the stack of hay, neither saying nor doing anything. He switched his gaze to his father, who had been dealing with a small group of soldiers. He put up a valiant effort, but eventually, he fell as well. Exhausted from a combination of lack of sleep and the fighting, he wasn't able to fight back when one of the soldiers walked up to him and sent his bayonet through his heart. The Lion let out one final mighty roar as the blood spurted out of the wound before he, too, collapsed to the ground, dead.

Had Leon been paying attention to the spreading fire, he would've noticed that it had spread to the fence surrounding the camp by this point, catching its wooden frame on fire. He would've noticed that the fire had spread to the back of the camp, where he was tucked away in the haystack. If he hadn't been incapable of feeling at this point, he _definitely_ would've noticed when one of the flaming beams broke off from the fence and fell on the haystack. The haystack cushioned the impact of the beams a little, which was good for Leon's sake. The bad thing, however, was that, being made out of hay, it happened to be highly flammable. The young cub felt a faint warm sensation, and it actually felt quite nice. His brain had shut off almost every one of his senses, aside from sight. That went away, as well, when he closed his eyes as the sensation grew warmer, blissfully unaware of the continuing chaos just outside of his shelter. And the fires raged on throughout the night.

* * *

**I'm really curious as to whether or not you thought I was talking about Elphaba in the warning at the top. Can I have a show of hands, maybe? Thanks in advance for reviewing!  
**


	9. No Complaints

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Wicked_.**

**A/N: So this chapter came a little later than I anticipated. I didn't mean to make you wait this long for the next chapter, but life kind of got in the way. This chapter-in my opinion, at least-is fairly dark, but I hope you enjoy reading it all the same!**

It turns out that a lot can change in the course of a year. Friendships can be made and broken. Trust can evaporate in an instant. In Elphaba's case, she was made into the enemy of the entire Land of Oz. It had been about eight months prior to the present day when she had evaded capture from the Gale Force, but it came at a high price. The night she had fled, the camp that she had been staying in after almost dying from a gunshot wound was invaded by the Wizard's men. They had come in the dead of night, setting the entire encampment ablaze. By the time that morning had come, there was no living soul anywhere to be seen. The news had traveled quickly, and it had not gone unheard by the green witch. She had mourned for the loss of her friends, and had since found shelter in an empty castle in the Vinkus. Its name was Kiamo Ko, and although it wasn't technically abandoned (for it still belonged to the royal family), it might as well have been. From the castle, she continued to execute her daily duties as the leader of the Animal resistance, managing to somehow avoid being caught by the Gale Force.

It was springtime in the grasslands of the Vinkus, and it was quite a sight to behold. At sunrise, the sun cast a burnt orange color across the sky, the flowers below reflecting it beautifully. Everything seemed to a silhouette at this time of the day, which only added to the effect. It was as the witch was looking out on this picturesque scene from high up in the castle that one of her Animal friends, a flying Monkey named Chistery, came into the room.

"Miss Elphaba?" She startled at the sudden voice, trying to suppress the memories that had suddenly flown into her head at those two words. She had thought that, given time, they would stop flooding into her mind every time that she was addressed that way, but she was wrong. They were still as strong as ever—she had just gotten better at hiding it. She turned around with a grin after realizing that it was Chistery. He hadn't been able to speak at all when the two met shortly after she became an enemy to all of Oz, but throughout the year, he had begun to regain his speech. By now, he had almost regained it all, and she was reminded of that every time she heard him speak.

"Yes, Chistery?" she asked before seeing the look on his face that made her grin immediately disappear. He looked worried and perhaps a bit frantic, like he had something bad yet important to say. In an instant, her expression changed to copy his. "What is it?" she asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"T-The Gale Force," he said, resulting in her eyes going wide as she made the connection between that and his expression. "T-They're getting closer to the castle." Her expression became unreadable a moment after he said this, and she lowered her head, ensuring that her face became obscured by the shadow cast by the brim of her hat.

"I see," she said softly, biting her lower lip. In all honesty, it was a miracle that this didn't happen sooner. The Wizard's army had been hunting her since the beginning, and she had thought that she would've been dead or, at the very least, in prison by this point. It surprised her that she had lasted this long in the first place. Even still, she knew it had to end sometime. "Thank you. I'll deal with them now." She dismissed Chistery as she turned back to the window, although truthfully, she wasn't planning on doing anything. What would be the purpose? What would she do afterwards? She certainly couldn't stay at the castle if the Gale Force knew where she was, and it's not like her life would be any better if she escaped. Every last Ozian would still be out for her blood, and the Animals would still be oppressed by the Wizard's wrongdoings. Her former friends would still not know of her true nature. They would live on, dedicating their lives to…

_To killing me,_ she thought sadly. Her eyes watered a bit as she closed them. It may have been a year, but that didn't make the pain any less raw. She still thought of them every night. She knew that she was most likely just torturing herself further by doing so, and yet she didn't care. She knew that she was responsible for turning them into the people that they were now, but that didn't stop the pain. It wouldn't stop if she ran away. It wouldn't stop if she stopped the Gale Force before they got there. No, she knew exactly what would stop it. She looked down at the edge of the woods a little ways away, waiting for the soldiers to appear.

* * *

It was about half an hour later when the first men came out from the lining of the trees. The sun had risen more by now, but it was still relatively dark out due to fairly dense cloud cover. Even so, the torches carried by them were more than sufficient to give their position away. Elphaba watched them move closer with every step they took. A fleeting thought went through her mind: she still had a chance to get away. She could flee from the castle and move to another location. She shook her head at this idea, but it still sounded appealing. She almost forgot why she wanted to stay in the castle when she saw him.

He was wearing his green uniform, his golden aiguillette gleaming in what little sunlight was radiating through the gray skies above. She could see that he had a very determined look on his face, outlined by the yellow-orange light of the flame given off by the torch. She watched him with a vacant look as her mind receded into the memories of her past. Snapping out of her trance after a few fleeting moments, her features twisted into a sad expression. She lifted her hand up as if to reach for him but stopped suddenly and slowly lowered it as she whispered his name into the air.

"Fiyero…" It was then that her reason for staying was made all too clear once again. She did nothing but cause harm to those who love her; she was a menace to society. That was why she needed to stay. No more running away. No more tears. It was time for her to pay for her errors. Putting that familiar unreadable expression back on her face, she whipped around and walked away from the window.

It only took about five additional minutes for the hunters to arrive. When they broke through the castle entrance, they were surprised at what they saw: the Wicked Witch of the West standing in the middle of the room like she was waiting for them. She stood strong with a fiery, defiant glare on her face. It looked familiar to Fiyero for whatever reason, but he shooed the thought away quickly enough and focused on the task at hand. They all knew that the Grimmerie, which was currently kept hidden in the palace of the Emerald City, was the source of the Witch's power; without it, she was helpless. With this knowledge in hand, it was almost humorous to see her looking so strong at brave. Almost. She still had this intimidating air about her even without her power, and even he had to admire how so utterly determined she looked with the knowledge of what she must have known was about to happen. Fiyero was the first to find his voice.

"Well, well, look at what we have here," he taunted. "Is the Witch giving up that easily?" She sneered at him, a movement that made him recoil inwardly.

"I'll have you know that I'll never surrender to _anyone_. Especially not the likes of you," she spat, trying to mask the hurt she felt at Fiyero's hostile tone. His eyes narrowed threateningly.

"We'll see if that's true soon enough then, won't we? We can either do this the easy way," he said, holding up a chain used by the Gale Force to capture criminals, "or the hard way." He gestured to the gun that he was carrying. "Your choice." The Witch narrowed her eyes.

"As I said," she said in a dangerously low tone, "I will _never_ surrender." She was attempting to appear stronger than she was truly feeling at that moment, and she wondered if it was convincing enough. A second later, she got her answer.

"Very well then," Fiyero responded in an unfeeling tone. He nodded to the group behind them, which then immediately stormed into the castle. A few men seized her, and her feet were off the floor before she could respond. The young Captain walked over to her and withdrew his gun. The next thing she knew, the butt of his gun was slamming into the side of her face. She glared at him angrily after she had recovered from the momentary shock. "As I said," he said in a low tone, mocking what she had said just moments before. "The easy way or the hard way. Although the Wizard would prefer you to be captured, I'm certain he won't mind if things go a little bit…_differently_." Internally, she recoiled at the last word, realizing exactly what he meant. It hurt so much to hear such things come out of his mouth, but even so, she kept her face in that stony expression that she had used so many times before. She would _not_ break down now; no, if she was going to die, she was going to die with dignity. Taking her silence as an unsaid answer, Fiyero lifted his gun.

In Elphaba Thropp's last moments, she recalled all of the times in her life when something went wrong. She had always stood by and let it happen, and not once in her life did she complain. She didn't complain when her own father beat her simply because she was green. She didn't complain when her peers bullied and beat her. She didn't complain when she was labeled as a Wicked Witch by her childhood idol. And now, as she prepared to take her last breaths in the cold, empty royal castle of the Vinkus, she certainly didn't complain when the ice-cold steel of the bayonet pierced her stomach and came out on the other side, covered in a bright-red layer of her own blood.

* * *

**Mmm, delicious cliffhanger, my favorite... Please remember to leave a review, and thanks for reading!  
**


	10. Press Onwards

**Disclaimer: Oh, you think _Wicked_ belongs to me? *laughs* Oh, man, that was a good one! Can you tell me another?**

**A/N: Well, here we go, the final chapter... maybe. It depends. I'll explain more later. For now, though, enjoy! ...And please don't kill me...**

The pain that radiated from the wound was bad. Very bad; excruciatingly bad. It was even worse than the whip that had come crashing down on Elphaba nine months earlier. Her body was urging her to scream in pain, but her resolve held strong: with much effort, she managed to bite it back. For a moment, the pain lessened, but it came back full force when the bayonet was forcefully jerked out of her stomach. She felt a strange mixture of bile and blood rise up in her throat. Willing her eyes to focus in front of her, she would've gasped if the stab wound hadn't prevented her from doing so. Fiyero was looking at her, a mixture of anger and solemnity etched onto his face. In his hand was the gun to which the bloodied bayonet was attached. The red liquid steadily dripped off the dagger-like weapon, each drop making a sickening _plop_ as it landed. As she took in the entire scene, time appeared to be frozen, but in reality, it was only a second later when the blood began to come out of the wound in a steady flow. Overcome by a sudden wave of nausea and weariness, her knees buckled, crashing to the hard, stone floor; the rest of her soon followed suit.

She collapsed to the ground, her stomach slamming onto the floor. The blood leaking from the wound began to pool underneath her. She could feel her spirit slowly slipping away as her body became weaker with each passing second. She heard the dull sound of footsteps receding away from her as her hearing began to fade. Her body went limp as the world around her faded to black.

Fiyero had signaled his men to leave after impaling the Witch, comfortable in the knowledge that she wouldn't make it out alive. The bayonet had cut far too deep, and she would be dead very soon based on the rate at which her blood was exiting her body—she would bleed out long before anyone could save her. He would send for his men to get the body later, but for now, he relaxed as he made his way back to where the soldiers had left their horses. As he got on the horse, he noticed that he had a minor headache, but he just shrugged it off, assuming that it was a result of the stress surrounding the mission. It had gone smoother than anticipated… not that he was complaining or anything, but he was a bit surprised at how she seemed to have given up. He couldn't speak for her, of course, seeing as he had never known her, but it seemed very uncharacteristic of the Witch to do so. He thought it was going to be a bit more of a challenge. He couldn't deny that it was a bit disappointing, but he also couldn't deny what he had just done; he had rid Oz of its greatest enemy, and what little disappointment he had was overwhelmed by exhilaration at that revelation. Not bothering to give it any more thought, he focused back in on riding the horse, leaving Kiamo Ko far behind him.

The ride back to the Emerald City was unexpectedly tough. The headache he had had only worsened as he rode, and the sun shining bright in the now-clear sky didn't exactly help. It wasn't like other headaches that he had had before, however. He couldn't exactly explain it, but it felt kind of like something was pushing out from the inside as opposed to pressing in from the outside. It almost felt like something was trying to escape. He thought this odd, considering, from what he'd been told, that's not the way that headaches usually feel, but once again, he just shrugged it off, focusing on trying to ignore it as a whole instead. Overall, he managed to get to the City well enough, but he definitely wouldn't have minded retiring to his bed for a while.

The trip back took a few hours—about the same as it had to get to the castle—and they were all tired, for they had departed early in the morning, so as to surprise the Witch under the cover of darkness. When the group had finally gotten to the palace, Fiyero headed straight to his and Galinda's apartment-like section of the palace, eager to get some rest. He entered the room to find Galinda lying on their couch with what appeared to be a cold compress—perhaps a damp washcloth or something of the sort—covering her eyes and forehead.

"Glin?" he called as he shut the door behind him. Hearing his voice, she snapped her hand up to the fabric on her head and whipped it off. The next second, she was sitting straight up on the couch, the beginning of a smile already forming on her face, but she scrunched her eyes in pain at the sudden movement and moved her free hand up to her head.

"Oh, hey, Fiyero," she said in an unexpectedly soft voice. He looked at her in slight confusion.

"What's wrong? I thought you would've been more excited to see me." She looked at him somewhat wearily, now rubbing her temples with her hand.

"Oh, it's not that I'm not excited," she began, "but I've just been dealing with a pretty bad headache for the past few hours." He was a bit surprised to hear this, considering he was in a similar situation.

"Well, how coincidental," he said jokingly. "I've been dealing with one myself, as well." His voice died out at the last word as the throbbing became a sharp pain. The world around him seemed to suddenly fade out as a new visual took its place. He was no longer in his bedroom in the Wizard's palace; he was instead in a green clearing outside of a collection of buildings, and it didn't take long for him to recognize the place as Shiz University. What concerned him, though, was not the fact that this was abnormal, but rather the fact that the figure in front of him looked strangely familiar. The person was, as far as he could tell, female, but he couldn't see her face as her back was facing toward him. She stood a bit shorter than him, and she was wearing a dark blue frock and a blue knit cap. Her black hair was wound into a braid that extended past her shoulder, and she appeared to be holding something in front of her; he supposed these to be books, considering where they were. The familiarity of the young woman unnerved him, but just as he was about to get a closer look, the sound of Galinda's voice hit his ears, bringing him back to reality.

"Fiyero?" He blinked a few times as the Shiz campus faded, bringing into focus Galinda's worried face in front of his. The look of worry on her face quickly changed to that of relief, however, and she brought him into a hug. "Oh, thank Oz! What happened to you? You were talking, and all of a sudden, your face just went blank. I tried to get your attention, but you wouldn't respond!" They pulled away, and Fiyero shook his head a few times, trying to clear his mind of whatever it was that he just saw.

"I'm sorry, Glin," he said after a few seconds. "I was just… thinking of something, that's all." It was a weak excuse, he knew, but what else could he have said? Fortunately, if the blonde had any doubts, she didn't question him any further.

"Okay, well, don't do that again. You really scared me. Now, if you'll excuse me, my head is pounding. I'll just be going to bed now, okay?"

"Okay. I was planning on doing the same, anyway." She smiled at him.

"Good." She walked away, but when he didn't follow, she turned back around. "Fiyero? Are you coming?" He looked up at her, having been lost in thought for a brief moment.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few." The blonde looked at him suspiciously for a second before responding.

"Okay, just don't be too long." He gave her his most charming smile.

"I won't; don't worry." After she left the room, Fiyero sat down on the couch, temporarily ignoring his protesting head. A thousand questions seemed to be flowing through his mind all at once. Who was that girl? Why did she look so familiar? What did Shiz have anything to do with it? Had he known her somehow? Thinking about these questions was proving to be rather overwhelming, and his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp throbbing. _I should probably go and join Galinda, now,_ he thought, and he got up, walking towards the bedroom.

"Hey, Glin," he said once he closed the door behind him. She looked up at him as he climbed into bed.

"Hey," she said, smiling faintly. They only talked for a moment longer before they fell asleep, the outside light darkened by the heavy drape covering the window.

* * *

Fiyero's dreams were fragmented: it was like someone had broken a mirror, and the shards of broken glass now lay strewn across the floor. Each shard, with its random shatter pattern, represented one of his dreams: broken, unpredictable, and so on. They were vivid enough, but they seemed to be a little fuzzy as well, like there was something missing. They leaped between different time periods, but they all seemed to be centered on one location: the grounds of Shiz University. _What is it about this place that's so important?_ he remembered thinking during one of the countless dreams. _And what is it about this girl that's so important as well?_ Indeed, the girl seemed to be another common theme in his dreams. Time after time again, she would reappear, always wearing that same dark blue outfit. One peculiarity that he noticed, though, was that he could never see her skin. Her face was constantly obscured by a shadow coming from some unknown source, and her sleeves always seemed to cover her arms and hands. It was almost as if she was being blocked from his dreams for whatever reason, but he cast that thought away as quickly as it came. He could hear her voice, though. It sounded familiar—too familiar for his liking. It was sweet and mellifluous and oddly endearing. The message that it carried, however, was anything but. It came during his last dream.

_Fiyero…_

He jolted at the sudden voice. "Wh-who is that?"

_Fiyero, don't you remember me?_ His eyes went wide in a bit of panic.

"Remember who?" Suddenly, he found himself face-to-face with that odd girl once again. "Y-You…" His voice shook in surprise before he narrowed his eyes in sudden anger. "All right, who are you?!"

_Fiyero…_

"Stop saying that! How do you know my name?! _Who are you?!_" Getting nothing in response, he only got angrier. "_Answer me!_"

_Fiyero, please remember…_

"Remember what?! I'm tired of playing these ridiculous mind games with you! Just tell me already!"

_Fiyero…_

He was jolted awake suddenly, drenched in a cold sweat. He realized that he had been breathing rather heavily while he was sleeping. To make matters worse, his headache had only progressed. _I should probably see a doctor since it's obviously not getting any better,_ he thought. Sitting up, he jumped a little as Galinda let out a small moan. She opened her eyes blearily, taking a few seconds to focus them.

"Fiyero?" He looked back at her, feeling a little guilty.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up," he apologized.

"No, that's okay. I was pretty much awake, anyway."

"Oh. Is your head feeling any better?"

"No. Actually, to tell you the truth, it's gotten worse. What about yours?"

"Same." He was about to move on to a different topic when a great pain surged through his head. It was unlike any of the other pains that the headache had induced; no, this was much greater. It was like someone was taking a sledgehammer to his head. He thrust his face into his hands, crying out in pain. Galinda was on the verge of shouting out to him when a similar thing happened to her. Never before had the two experienced anything like what they were feeling right now. That strange "pushing" feeling that Fiyero had taken note of returned, but this time, its strength was tenfold. It felt as though his head might burst then and there. And that's when it happened.

It was like the floodgates had opened, spewing out into the recesses of his mind. That girl from his dream returned… but it was different this time. The visions seemed so much more vivid, and they began playing anew. The biggest difference, though? This time, he could see her. The shadow that had seemed to cover her was no longer there, and he was taken aback by what he saw. Standing in front of him, there was a young woman, appearing to be in her late teens or early twenties… and she had green skin. Not a sickly green, mind you; it was more like a pale emerald color, like the Wicked Witch…. _No._ It couldn't be, could it? The woman from his dreams was…? But… impossible! Yet here she was, right in front of him. And yet… no one at Shiz was green. No one; he was sure of that. Wasn't he? And then he heard it. It was just one word, and even so, it was so much more.

_Elphaba._

The name hit him like a brick wall, and it suddenly made sense.

_Elphaba._ The green girl. The Artichoke. The green bean. The Wicked Witch of the West.

_Elphaba. Elphaba Thropp._

The memories flashed by him in a blur of colors. The day they first met. The day they rescued the Lion cub. The day she cast that spell over a year ago.

The day she died. By his hand.

The colors stopped suddenly, leaving him in a sort of stupor. His arms had fallen away, and he was left staring at the mattress as his brain processed what he had just seen. His headache had suddenly ceased, and by this point, so had Galinda's. Now, the two just sat there in a moment of stunned silence.

The young blonde was the first to recover. Looking at Fiyero carefully, she tentatively asked him the most pressing question on her mind.

"Fiyero… did you, just now, did you… see anything?" Wordlessly, he nodded in a painfully slow manner. She merely nodded in response, not pressing the matter any further. "Fiyero…" Or maybe not. "You didn't know. You couldn't have." She tried to comfort him, but he merely glared at her.

"It still doesn't change the fact that she's dead," he said venomously. She immediately recoiled, having never heard him use that tone with her.

"Fiyero…"

"Don't," he hissed, body trembling, but with anger or sorrow, she couldn't tell. "She's _dead_, Galinda. Dead! I could've saved her, but what do I do? I drive a _bayonet_ through her abdomen!" He was shouting by this point, tears building up in his eyes. "After everything that she's been through, after everything that she's had to endure, I _kill_ her!" Galinda was about to say something, but Fiyero didn't give her a chance. Breathing sharply as he tried to hold back his sobs, he swiftly got off the bed at left the room, slamming the door behind him. It was only a few seconds before the blonde heard pounding coming from the main room. Getting off the bed and going to the door, she opened it cautiously, peeking out into the room that Fiyero was in. What she saw nearly broke her heart.

He was at the wall to her right, slamming his fist into it repeatedly as he half-muttered to himself, tears rolling down his face. She slowly approached him, tears at the verge of spilling over onto her face, as well.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…" She heard him mutter brokenly through his tears, yet still managing to keep in time with his strikes on the wall.

"Fiyero?" she asked timidly, barely managing to keep her composure. He looked at her through misty eyes, shaking as his sobs racked his entire body.

"I killed her." His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. Stepping up to him, she wrapped him in a tight embrace. He returned the hug tightly, clinging to her as if she was the last sign that Elphaba had ever existed.

"Shh," she comforted like a mother would with her child. "I know, I know…" But his crying was making it harder for her to stay collected.

"I killed her, I killed her…" he repeated through his sobs, and finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and her tears spilled as well. And there they stood, sobbing into each other's shoulders, for a long while, trying to figure out what they would do next. They couldn't stay like this forever, they knew; Elphaba wouldn't have wanted it that way. All they could do was press onwards.

* * *

**So, remember what I said in the Author Notes? Well, it's kind of like this: if, for some reason, you really _want_ this to be the ending, then by all means, go ahead. I wrote the ending to this chapter that way for a reason. If you want the _other_ ending that I have planned... well, stay tuned! In the meantime, though, you should try this magic thing called reviewing! I heard that it might make a few select people feel a little better, if you catch my drift...  
**


	11. Never Forget

**Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say "not mine" for me to prove my point? Not mine. Not mine. NOT. MINE.**

**A/N: Well, this came out late. Sorry! You can blame life for that. Anyway, writing this chapter was a blast! I had a lot of fun making the dialogues for some reason. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!**

If one were to look into the minds of the Goat and Tiger doctors walking down one of the many long corridors of the village clinic, they would see chaos.

_Will she be ok?_ This would be much more than just a simple question of curiosity. This question would be one that echoed in their minds at every passing moment, born out of pure fear and concern. It would bounce off the ridges of their brains in an eternal torrent, eating away at them until it was answered. And sometimes, it would become too much for them to contain, and they would be practically forced to voice it. And as such, they found themselves having the discussion that they had already had several times over.

"Who knows?" came the distant reply from the Tiger, his mind focused on much more than that at the moment. The Goat looked at him.

"Do you not care for her safety, Aulis?" Now the Tiger looked at the Goat, but he did so differently. His look was one that held confusion and surprise, as if the Goat had just grown another head.

"Of course I do. I just…" he sighed, trying to find the right words. "I just have other things on my mind," he managed to say.

"Like what?" the Goat prodded, earning him a glare from Aulis.

"Like _how_ to save her," he answered, effectively silencing the Goat. The two continued on for a few seconds more before coming to a door, preparing themselves once again for one of their routine nightly visits to their newest patient. Silently, Aulis opened the door cautiously, as he was not quite yet accustomed to looking at her in the condition that she was in.

The sight before them never ceased to catch them off-guard. The patient had arrived just a few days prior at around noon. She had been dragged through the doors by a few Monkeys, which had been odd enough, but what had gotten the staff's attention the most were the giant wings sprouted on their backs. The sight had caused a feeling of dread to sweep throughout the building, and upon seeing the patient, their suspicions had been confirmed.

She was a young woman—in her early twenties, based on her appearance (excluding the cause of her visit, of course)—wearing a heavy black and purple gown darkened by the presence of some liquid; it was soon discovered that the liquid was warm to the touch. It was also very sticky… and very red. It was a miracle that she was alive, but just barely. Her breaths were dangerously shallow, and her heart was beating quickly. Her skin was very clammy and pale, but it was also something else: green. That was the observation that made everyone stop in their tracks. That was the confirmation of the fact that lying before them, on the shoulders of those strange Monkeys and desperately fighting to keep her life, was indeed the one and only Wicked Witch of the West.

Now here these two doctors were, standing in front of the recovering green girl, figuring out the best way to get her healthy again as quickly as possible. They were in the middle of discussing a possible treatment option when they heard a voice from behind them.

"So the rumors are true, then," it said, startling the two. They turned around to see a large Lion standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and his eyes looking darkly at the patient. His mouth was twisted into a mild scowl, his nose scrunched up in a distasteful manner.

"Oh, hello, sir," the Goat said, registering the fact that the voice belonged to the leader of the village. The Lion glanced up at him for a short moment.

"Hello," he said distantly, making it clear that he wasn't really paying attention to the doctor; he just alternated his gaze from the green girl to the floor and back, appearing to be lost in thought. It was a rather awkward silence that passed between the three Animals, the only sound being the occasional breath from the Witch that just happened to have been loud enough to hear. After a few long minutes, however, the leader spoke once again.

"How long do you suspect she'll stay like this?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. The doctors looked at each other before looking back and shrugging.

"We can't say for certain, sir," Aulis said. "We don't even know she _won't_ stay like this. Right now, she's stable, but she's still in very bad condition." The leader simply nodded as he continued to stare at the unconscious form on the mattress. Based on the conversation, it seemed as though he was the only one who noticed the faint shimmer on her skin constantly coming and going in waves.

"Well, just keep an eye on her, and tell me if she improves. Call it wishful thinking if you want, but I have a suspicion that she'll recover sooner than you think." At that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving the others in a state of confusion at his rather cryptic statement.

On the way back to his house, the leader thought about the current situation that he had found himself in. Unwanted memories cropped up in his mind whenever he thought about the Witch, and it bothered him to no end. Would it be too much to ask to forget about his past and start over? That's why he had moved out to this Animal encampment by the Vinkus River, anyway: to start a new life. And yet, no matter how hard he had tried to get rid of those memories, they had come back to haunt him in the end. _And it was all because of that Witch,_ he thought bitterly, eyeing the scars strewn across his body. By this point, he had already come to his house near the middle of the village. He unlocked the door and slipped inside, mulling over what he should do next.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He looked over to the parchment and quill sitting on his small desk on one side of the smallish room, pondering over whether or not he should carry it out. _I couldn't,_ he chided himself, but the paper looked so much more appealing in that moment. _Could I?_ He walked over to the desk, his gaze fixated on the flickering orange-red light emanating from the wax candle beside the paper and quill.

_No, you fool!_ His mind shouted at him. _You'll put the entire village in danger._ That was true, but if he moved far enough away…

With one final thought, he picked up the quill and began to write, having had enough practice in his six months of being the village leader to do so. _Don't forget why you're here. Don't _ever_ forget…_

* * *

The past five days had been hell for Fiyero and Galinda. Not only had they been made to act all "nice and oh, so,_ cheery!_" (as Galinda had put it) now that the Witch—no, _Elphaba_—had died, but internally, their minds had been clouded by grief and torment. Galinda had it pretty bad, but Fiyero…. Galinda's pain had been _nothing_ compared to his. Sure, he managed to get through the day, albeit barely, but if anyone were to see him "after hours", they would see a broken man.

Sometimes, if Galinda was lucky, he would cry or scream or do _something_, but for the most part, he sat in the corner, neither doing nor saying anything. He would sit motionlessly with blank, dull eyes, unwilling to do anything. On the third day, he was a bit more active, so Galinda took the opportunity to have an actual conversation with him.

"_Fiyero?" the blonde asked, looking over to the couch that he was sitting on._

"_Hmm?" he offered as a response._

"_Fiyero, I know it's hard, and I'm not asking you to do anything right now…" The Captain glanced in her direction, eyeing her cautiously. She gulped and let out a deep sigh, preparing herself for what might happen. "Elphie wouldn't have wanted you to do this to yourself," she said quietly, timidly, already putting up her guard. As she had expected, he reacted angrily. His eyes narrowed, glaring daggers at the young woman. His voice dropped dangerously low._

"_And how would you know that?" he questioned. "_You_ weren't there when she died. You should've seen the pain on her face. How do you think it makes me feel to know that, in her last moments, all that _pain_, all that _agony_ that she must've felt was caused by _me_?!" He was on his feet shouting by this point, yet Galinda stood strong, knowing that he needed this. "How do you think it makes me feel to have to go through my day acting all happy, like there's absolutely nothing wrong?!" His voice cracked slightly on the last word, and his eyes were tearing up. "I have to act like she was my worst enemy! I have to spend every hour of my day surrounded by these imbeciles who throw her 'name' around so Oz-damned _casually_, like she was nothing but an insignificant bug on the window that would fly away at any moment!"_

"_And you think that I don't have to live with that?!" Galinda shouted, feeling a surge of anger pass through her. Fiyero stopped dead in his tracks for just a moment before his eyes darkened._

"_Not the way that I do." His voice was steady and cold, yet it was also surprisingly calm and quiet. He looked away, leaving Galinda stunned at his unexpected comment. She tried to find her voice again, but being unable to do so, she stalked off into the bedroom instead, blinking away her unshed tears._

The two hadn't spoken much in the two days since, so it was no surprise that Galinda was sitting on their lavish couch while Fiyero sat in his usual spot, neither saying nor doing anything. The petite blonde stared up at the ceiling, wondering how long this would last. Suddenly, she heard knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" she said, trying (but failing) to sound like her happy and cheerful self.

"Pardon the disturbance, Lady Galinda, but we've received a letter addressed to you and Master Fiyero," came a man's voice from the other side of the door. She sighed exasperatedly, but she conceded to the request nonetheless.

"Send it in," she commanded as both she and Fiyero prepared for the newcomers. The door opened, and in walked a Gale Forcer, a folded piece of parchment in his hand.

"The letter has been looked through, milady, and we believe it is of the utmost importance that you read it as soon as possible," the soldier informed, making Galinda's brow crease in confusion. The man left as quickly as he came, closing the door behind him. She wondered what could possibly be so important as she opened the letter, but that thought was quickly replaced by many more as she read it.

_Lady Galinda the Good and Master Fiyero, our great Captain of the Guard,_

_ A thousand pardons, but I have grave news to tell you. I have information regarding the recently-deceased Wicked Witch of the West: to be specific, information regarding her current status as "deceased". She has been spotted near the Vinkus River… alive and well. I cannot tell you much more, as I am fearful of the Witch discovering me. I'm afraid that I can't even disclose my name, but I will take a risk and tell you this: if you wish to discover more information, meet me in three days' time at dusk at the northwestern edge of the small forest between the Vinkus River and the Emerald City. I understand if you feel that this is a joke, but I promise you: I'm telling the truth. Bring some Gale Forcers to accompany you, I don't mind, but I can guarantee that it will be worth it. I hope this letter makes it to you safely. Best regards to you both._

The paper fell slowly to the floor as Galinda's grip slackened in shock. Fiyero noticed this, and he got up (which was a miracle in and of itself), walking towards the letter. Mildly confused, he picked it up and began to read it. He did the same thing as Galinda did when he finished as well. The two stood there for a long moment, neither one of them being able to speak. It was Fiyero to break the silence first.

"This… this can't be real," he said, though every part of him was hoping that it was.

"But what if it is?" Galinda replied in the same awestruck tone as Fiyero. Fiyero looked at Galinda, doubtfully yet hopefully.

"What if it isn't?" he said, his pessimistic side getting the better of him. Galinda sighed.

"If it isn't… well, we'll have some Gale Forcers to protect us, right?"

"I suppose," he agreed, a bit crestfallen at the possibility. There was silence for a few seconds before Galinda spoke.

"Fiyero?" He looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry… for what I said the other day. I shouldn't have pushed you." Fiyero looked surprised at this.

"No, Glin… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded like that," he apologized, looking sad at the memory.

"But you had every right to do so." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Even so…." he trailed off, uncertain of what to say after that.

"Do you remember what I said, though? About Elphie not wanting you to blame yourself?" He nodded solemnly, tears forming in his eyes. "I was serious about that, Fiyero. No matter what happens, you shouldn't blame yourself anymore." He looked up at her, genuinely shocked.

"But-"

"It wasn't your fault. It was Elphaba's decision to cast… that _spell_..." She choked a little on the last word. "Any way you put it, she knew what she was getting herself into, and even if she _is_ dead, she doesn't blame you, I'm sure. Never forget that, okay? Never forget that…." Fiyero could only nod.

_I promise, Glin,_ he thought, feeling strangely at peace. _I won't. Not now. Not later. Not ever._

* * *

**So, there's a bit of fluff for you at the end. Does that make up for the time I've been gone? ...Yeah, I didn't think so, either. Let me know what you thought! See you next chapter, and thanks for reviewing!  
**


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